Electronic discovery system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for improved electronic discovery and custodian management. Embodiments herein disclosed provide for an enterprise wide e-discovery system that provides for data to be identified, located, retrieved, preserved, searched, reviewed and produced in an efficient and cost-effective manner across the entire enterprise system. In addition, by structuring management of e-discovery based on case/matter, custodian and data and providing for linkage between the same, further efficiencies are realized in terms of identifying, locating and retrieving data and leveraging results of previous e-discoveries with current requests.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

The present Application for Patent claims priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 61/164,276 entitled “Electronic Discovery System” filedMar. 27, 2009, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to methods, systems andcomputer program products for electronic discovery and, moreparticularly, managing the collection of data from custodians in anenterprise.

BACKGROUND

Electronic discovery, commonly referred to as e-discovery or eDiscovery,refers to any process in which electronic data is sought, located,secured and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a legalproceeding, an audit, a regulatory investigation, a forensicsinvestigation or the like. E-discovery can be carried out offline on aparticular computer or it can be accomplished in a network environment.

The nature of digital data makes it extremely well-suited forinvestigation. In particular, digital data can be electronicallysearched with ease, while paper documents must be scrutinized manually.Furthermore, it is difficult or impossible to completely destroy digitaldata, particularly if the data is stored in a network environment. Thisis because the data appears on multiple hard drives, and because digitalfiles, even if deleted, generally can be undeleted. In fact, the onlyreliable means of destroying digital data is to physically destroy anyand all hard drives where it is stored.

In the process of electronic discovery, data of all types can serve asevidence. This can include text, image, calendar event data, databases,spreadsheets, audio files, multimedia files, web sites and computerprograms. Electronic mail (i.e., e-mail) can be an especially valuablesource of evidence in civil or criminal litigation, because people areoften less careful in these exchanges than in hard copy correspondencesuch as written memos or postal letters. Certain regulations and otherbusiness needs require email to be retained for years.

E-discovery is an evolving field that goes far beyond mere technology.It gives rise to multiple issues, many of which have yet to be resolved.For example, identifying data required to satisfy a given discoveryrequest, locating the appropriate set of data that has been identified,and retrieving the data once it has been identified and located all poseproblems in and of themselves. This is especially evident if the datathat is being identified, located and retrieved comes from an evolvingor disparate enterprise, such as a corporation that has experiencedmergers, acquisitions, downsizing and the like. Mergers and acquisitionsmean that the technology infrastructure across the enterprise may vary,at least in the interim. However, e-discovery must be able locate andretrieve data from these disparate technology infrastructure in a timelyfashion, sometimes within days of when the merger/acquisition occurs.

In addition to identifying, locating and retrieving digital data, themost critical part of any electronic discovery is the preservation ofdata, which involves maintaining an original source copy and storing itfor preservation purposes or furthering processing. This too becomes adaunting task for the enterprise system that encompasses a myriad ofdifferent technology infrastructures and the like. Therefore, a needexists to improve the identification, location, retrieval andpreservation processes, especially in instances in which the enterprisesystem includes disparate technology infrastructures and the like.

As previously noted, e-discovery, as opposed as conventional discoveryof printed materials, provides for the ability to filter or search thedata so as to reduce the volume of data to only that which is relevantto the request. Such searching is typically accomplished by determininga specific date range for the request, providing key words relevant tothe case and the like. Searches using conceptual concepts, heuristics,linguistics and other variants are also becoming common. Still though,improvements in the area of searching are greatly in need to further addefficiency to the overall e-discovery process.

Once data has been retrieved, preserved and, in some instances, searchedthe electronic data may be reviewed by the requesting entity, such as alaw firm, securities commission or the like. While large requests aregenerally suited for online review, the manner in which the data ispresented for review adds efficiency to the review process andultimately drives the cost of the review process. Therefore,improvements in the manner in which data is presented for review arealso desirable as a means of increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

Lastly, once the digital data has been reviewed, data identified asrelevant may need to be produced in a tangible format for furtheranalysis or legal evidentiary purposes. The produced documents must beproperly identified and include necessary redactions and confidentialitymarkings.

Until now, e-discovery management has been conducted on a case-by-casebasis, meaning all tasking and workflow related to the e-discovery isbased at the case level. Such management does not allow for finergranularity in the management of a case or for links to exist betweendifferent cases for the purpose of leveraging the e-discovery related toone case to another new or pre-existing case. Therefore, a need existsto improve the manner in which cases are managed and, in particular, howtasking and workflow are managed depending on case requirements and thelike.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computerprogram products for electronic discovery and, in particular,improvements in electronic discovery that allow for electronic discoveryto be efficiently and cost-effectively employed across a diverseenterprise. [TO BE COMPLETED ONCE CLAIMS ARE FINALIZED]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms,reference may now be made to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment in which the processesdescribed herein are implemented, according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic discovery manager server, inaccordance with embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a database server, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a collection server, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is block diagram illustrating electronic discovery managementstructure, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for initiating a case or matterincluding creating search terms, creating and sending preservationnotices, sending reminder notices and creating and sending surveys tocustodians, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for custodian management in anelectronic discovery system, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are flow diagrams of methods for harvesting different datatypes in an electronic discovery system; in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 10 through 14 are illustrations of exemplary user interfacesvisible to a user conducting electronic discovery by means of anelectronic discovery system in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention now may be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, theinvention may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure may satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As may be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, system, computer program product, or acombination of the foregoing. Accordingly, the present invention maytake the form of an entirely software embodiment (including firmware,resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining softwareand hardware aspects that may generally be referred to herein as a“system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable medium havingcomputer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer-readable medium may be utilized. Thecomputer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples of the computer readable medium include, but are notlimited to, the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires; a tangible storage medium such as a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), acompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical or magneticstorage device; or transmission media such as those supporting theInternet, an intranet, or a wireless network. Note that thecomputer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronicallycaptured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitablemanner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of embodiments of thepresent invention may be written in an object oriented, scripted orunscripted programming language such as Java, Perl, Smalltalk, C++, orthe like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operationsof embodiments of the present invention may also be written inconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products. It may be understood that eachblock of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and/orcombinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor of ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer orother programmable data processing apparatus, create mechanisms forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block(s).

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block(s). Alternatively, computerprogram implemented steps or acts may be combined with operator or humanimplemented steps or acts in order to carry out an embodiment of theinvention.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a unique electronicdiscovery system that allows for the management of cases, custodians,and data separately, which advantageously causes the processesimplemented by and through the system to be significantly more efficientand scalable than those of the prior art. First, the three majorelements of the organizational structure of the system (cases,custodians, and data) should be explained. There are countlesscircumstances that may arise within an enterprise or business thatrequire the collection of electronic data from the employees andofficers of the enterprise or business. Such circumstances may arise outof ongoing litigation, investigations, regulatory compliance issues,etc. Each time electronic data is required or is potentially required tobe collected, the subject matter of the reason for the collection is a“matter,” and, eventually, a “case” within the electronic discoverysystem of the present invention. Within each case, the electronic datathat is required will generally have been created by or associated witha particular employee or officer, i.e. a “custodian.” Each member of theenterprise or business could be a custodian. Finally, the custodian datathat is harvested or collected from various storage locations needs tobe available to be readily accessed by those who need it for the case.In some instances, a particular custodian may not be the target of aparticular collection, but rather an “entity” such as a shared drive orother shared network storage location. Thus, there are matters/cases(which will be referred to together as “cases” for convenience),custodians, and data which all need to be identified, established, andmanaged within the electronic discovery system in order to complete thedata collection processes. Cases, custodians, and collected data formthe three fundamental units of work of the present electronic discoverysystem.

Existing electronic discovery systems have generally been structured sothat every process and piece of data relating to a collection is storedand managed according to one governing organizational header, such as aparticular litigation or a particular collection. In other words,individuals identified for collection as well as the data collected fromsuch individuals are assigned to a collection or the particular case,matter, litigation, investigation, etc. for which the collection wasrequired, and all management activities are performed by working throughthe organizational hierarchy of that case. Embodiments of the presentinvention, on the other hand, capitalize on the separate storage of caserecords, custodian records, and collected data within an electronicdiscovery system. This novel innovation, combined with strategiclinkages between the different storage areas arising out of therelationships between cases, custodians, and data, allows management ofthe e-discovery system to be implemented in a unique and extremelyefficient manner that is a significant improvement over existingsystems.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary electronic discovery system 100 inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, theenvironment of the electronic discovery system 100 is the informationtechnology platform of an enterprise, for example a national ormulti-national corporation, and includes a multitude of servers,machines, and network storage devices in communication with one anotherover a communication network. In particular, an electronic discoverymanagement server 110, at least one database server 120, a collectionsserver 130, enterprise personal computers 140, enterprise file servers150, including at least one personal network storage area and at leastone shared network storage area, enterprise email servers 160, aconversion services server 170, a short-term staging drive 180, and along-term network storage network 190 are all in communication over acommunication network 102. The communication network 102 may be a widearea network, including the Internet, a local area network or intranet,a wireless network, or the like.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 provides user interface management for a user viauser interface 118. In some embodiments, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is a web server that can be accessed via a webbrowser. In one particular embodiment, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is an intranet website server that may be accessedutilizing a web browser on a machine within the enterprise. Through theelectronic discovery management server 110, the user interface 118 maybe presented to a user for the purposes of managing the electronicdiscovery process and all processes described herein that are inherentthereto. For illustrative purposes, it may be assumed herein that theprimary user interacting with the user interface 118 is an employee orcontractor of the company who serves an electronic discovery managementrole, and hereafter is referred to as the “e-discovery manager.” Asdiscussed in greater detail below, the e-discovery manager may utilizethe user interface 118 to manage cases, custodians, collections, andcollected data. It should be appreciated, however, that any individualcould use the user interface 118 to perform the manual functions hereinattributed to the e-discovery manager, and, indeed, that an automatedprocess could perform those functions as well.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the electronic discovery management server110 is in communication with the database server 120 and the collectionsserver 130 via the communication network 102. The collection server 130may be configured to run an application configured to manage networkcollection of electronic data associated with custodians residing on thenetwork. The database server 120, as shown in the block diagram of FIG.3, is configured to provide database services for the electronicdiscovery management server 110, including housing the UnifiedDirectory/custodian database 122, which includes data relating toindividual custodians, the case database 124, which includes datarelating to particular cases, and ongoing collections database 126,which includes data relating to collections being undertaken by thecollections server 130. Each of the foregoing databases within thedatabase server 120 is discussed in detail below. It should beunderstood that multiple database servers could be employed instead of asingle database server, and reference to a single database server is forillustrative and convenience purposes only. For example, the UnifiedDirectory 122 could be stored in one database server, the case database124 could be stored in another database server, and the ongoingcollections data 126 could be stored in yet another database server.

Regardless of the number of database servers employed, it is an objectof embodiments of the present invention that data relating to custodiansand data relating to cases be stored in the database server 120independently such that custodians and cases may be managed separately.While custodian data in the Unified Directory 122 and case data in thecase database 124 may be linked or correlated within the database server120, by allowing the data to be stored and managed separately in thedatabase server 120, embodiments of the present invention advantageouslyfoster greater efficiency in the management processes of an enterpriseelectronic discovery environment. For example, in an environment wherecustodians may be assigned to multiple cases, the effort associated withthe collection of data from custodians is greatly reduced because thedata relating to the custodian's storage locations does not need to begenerated on a case-by-case basis or reproduced in each case record andbecause, in some situations, data may only be collected once from aparticular custodian but used in multiple cases.

It should be understood that, as used herein, the terms “linking” and“correlating” mean associating one set or item of data stored in a firststorage location with another set or item of data stored in a secondstorage location. For example, linking or correlating a case record to acustodian profile means associating the case data stored in a particularlocation with the custodian data stored in a different location.Likewise, linking or correlating a harvested data set to a case recordmeans associating the harvested data set stored in particular locationwith the case data stored in a different location. The first and secondstorage locations may be in the same datastore or in differentdatastores and may be in different physical geographic locations.

When a case is initialized and a custodian is assigned to the case(because the custodian was identified as a subject for electronicdiscovery), information for that custodian such as networkidentifications, human resources information, and other data relating todata storage locations, is accessed by the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 in the Unified Directory 122 in the databaseserver 120 and linked to the particular case record in the casedirectory 124, rather than manually input by the e-discovery managerinto the case. Thus, in the event the same custodian will be the subjectof an electronic discovery request in multiple cases, and therefore willbe assigned to multiple cases, by having the data relating to thatcustodian stored in a separate storage location, i.e. the UnifiedDirectory 122, and linked to the multiple case records in the casedirectory 124, the e-discovery manager avoids having to re-generate andre-enter identical information about the same custodian into multiplecase records.

Furthermore, in addition to allowing for management of custodians apartfrom cases, embodiments of the present invention also provide formanagement of collected data apart from cases. In this regard, incertain embodiments, the data collected from a particular custodian isstored separately from both the custodian information and any relevantcase information (as discussed below, the collected data is stored inlong-term storage area network 190), but is linked to a custodian, whichis in turn linked to one or more cases. This is advantageous because inthe event a particular custodian is assigned to multiple cases, datacollected from the custodian may be shared with the other case(s) towhich the custodian is assigned, which reduces the likelihood of theinefficiencies associated with over-collection. The foregoing are onlytwo examples of the advantages brought about by the unique structure ofthe present invention; indeed, the separation of cases, custodians andcollected data such that they may be linked together yet managedseparately greatly improves the efficiency of countless processescrucial to the operation of an electronic discovery system within theenvironment of an enterprise or any environment with multiple custodiansand multiple cases.

Thus, the various processes and components of the electronic discoverysystem 100 may be primarily categorized within one of case management,custodian management, or data management, although there are necessarilylinks between the various datastores (case, custodian, collected data)to streamline each process and ensure that each case record is complete.The particular processes and components that may be incorporated intoembodiments of the present invention will now be fully explained withinthe context of the particular unit of work within which they primarilyfall, whether it is custodian management, case management, or datamanagement.

Custodian Management

With regard to custodian management, according to some embodiments ofthe present invention, the Unified Directory/custodian database 122houses information relating to all potential custodians within theenterprise and the locations where those custodians store data. Theinformation stored in the Unified Directory 122 may include for aparticular custodian, for example, the custodian's name, position, humanresources identifier (a unique number for each employee of theenterprise), employment location, domain, email addresses, network useridentification, personal computer(s) name, paths of network storagedevices used by the custodian, including Shared Drives and HomeSpaces,work history, related persons (such as managers, team members orsubordinates), and any other information that may be relevant to thediscovery process. Since the human resources identifier (perhaps asocial security number) is always unique for each custodian, in someembodiments, the Unified Directory 122 may be organized around the humanresources identifier. The Unified Directory 122 is generated through amulti-step process that utilizes multiple tools and methods ofidentifying relevant information relating to custodians and thelocations in which they store data.

For example, the electronic discovery management server 110 or thedatabase server 120 may be configured to interface with the computerdatabases of the human resources computer systems of the enterprise tocopy the information from the human resources databases into the UnifiedDirectory 122. In some embodiments, the electronic discovery managementserver 110 may also reach out to a network directory, such as WindowsActive Directory, to identify network resources related to particularcustodians and integrate this information into the custodian entriesincluding the copied human resources information. Information for theUnified Directory 122 may also be obtained from the managers of theinformation technology network, i.e., those individuals responsible forsetting up email accounts for custodians and managing the various fileservers of the enterprise. Furthermore, in addition to retrievinginformation in the manners described above, in some embodiments,information in the Unified Directory 122 is generated through toolsinitialized and/or deployed by the electronic discovery managementserver 110. In particular, in some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, aprofile scanning tool 112, and a mapping tool 114 are provided.

The profile scanning tool 112 may be deployed by the electronicdiscovery management server 110 and is configured to crawl thecommunication network 102, scan each of the enterprise personalcomputers 140, and transmit to the database server 120 identifyinginformation about each computer, such as computer name and IP address,and a list of all profiles, including demographics information, (ornetwork user identification) associated with each computer. According todifferent embodiments, the profile scanning tool 112 may be run on theelectronic discovery management server 110, the collection server 130,or another server in the communication network 102. In some embodiments,the profile scanning tool 112 is further configured to identify andtransmit to the database server 120 the most recent date and time atwhich a particular profile was logged on to the machine. According tosome embodiments, when information relating to a particular computer isreceived by the database server 120, the database server 120 uses theprofile information, which may include several user identifications, toassociate the particular computer to the custodians in the UnifiedDirectory 122 who are assigned those user identifications and store thecomputer names and IP addresses in those custodians' entries in theUnified Directory for future reference in collections. The databaseserver 120 may also record in each custodian's entry in the UnifiedDirectory 122 the last time the computer was accessed by the custodian,according to the profile information transmitted by the profile scanningtool 112. In other embodiments, the list obtained by the profilescanning tool 112 may be stored separately from the Unified Directory122 and accessed only when a particular collection is being undertaken.Thus, the profile scanning tool 112 ultimately generates a list ofpersonal computers used by each custodian, which list may be utilized topopulate the custodian entries in the Unified Directory 122, or may be aseparate directory to be utilized at the time of collection, or may bestored elsewhere, as long as it is readily accessible to the e-discoverymanager when a collection of a custodian's local machine(s) isinitialized, as discussed in detail below.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the mapping tool114 is configured to crawl the communication network 102 and examine theenterprise file servers 150 residing on the communication network 102 tolocate and identify the path of any personal network storage area oneach server. As used herein, a personal network storage area is anetwork storage area associated with a single user who reads data fromor writes data to it. Personal network storage areas may be in the formof network storage devices or folders or other resources within anetwork storage device and may be referred to hereafter for claritypurposes as “HomeSpaces.” According to different embodiments, themapping tool 114 may be run on the electronic discovery managementserver 110, the collection server 130, or another server in thecommunication network 102. In some embodiments, the mapping tool 114 isa Windows service that is scheduled to execute through use of WindowsScheduled Task. As the mapping tool 114 crawls the communication network102, it is configured to examine each file server and transmit to thedatabase server 120 the path of any network storage area within theplurality of servers 134 that it positively identifies as a HomeSpace.In some embodiments, the mapping tool 114 is configured to explore theenterprise file servers 150 by obtaining and reviewing the directorieson each server and evaluating the paths of each network storage areatherein, including folders and other storage devices and resources.

With regard to identifying a particular network storage area as aHomeSpace, according to some embodiments, the mapping tool 114 isconfigured to utilize conventional naming techniques for paths in thecommunication network 102 to identify those paths of network storageareas within the enterprise file servers 150 that include an indicator,based on the conventional naming techniques, that the particular storageareas associated with those paths are accessed and used by only oneuser, and are therefore HomeSpaces. In accordance with some embodimentsof the invention, each user of the communication network 102 is assignedto at least one user identification and those user identifications arethe indicators that the mapping tool 114 attempts to locate within pathswhen identifying HomeSpaces. In such embodiments, it is the conventionthat the paths of HomeSpaces on the communication network 102 includethe user's user identification. On the other hand, paths of sharednetwork storage areas do not include user identifications. Therefore,the mapping tool 114 may explore the directories of each server withinthe plurality of servers, evaluate each path in turn, and make adetermination as to whether or not the path includes a useridentification.

If it is determined that the path includes the designated indicator, forexample, a user identification, the mapping tool 114 is configured topositively identify the particular network storage area identified bythat path as a HomeSpace and transmit to the database server 120 theparticular user identification and the path of the HomeSpace. When thatinformation is received by the database server 120, the database server120 uses the user identification to link the particular HomeSpace to thecustodian in the Unified Directory 122 associated with that useridentification. Indeed, the HomeSpaces identified through the mappingtool 114 could be added to the relevant custodian entries in the UnifiedDirectory 122, making them accessible to the e-Discovery manager eachtime those custodians are added to new cases. In other embodiments, theHomeSpace directory generated by the mapping tool 114 may be storedseparately and only utilized or accessed when a particular collection isundertaken. In yet other embodiments, it could be linked to the UnifiedDirectory 122.

In some embodiments, the mapping tool 114 is also configured torecognize and transmit, and the database server 120 is configured tohouse, an indication of the last time the HomeSpace was accessed by theparticular user, for example, the last time any data was read fromand/or written to the HomeSpace. Additionally, in some embodiments, themapping tool 114 is configured to recognize when multiple paths map tothe same network storage area. The collection server 130 compares pathsfor the same user to determine if duplicative entries exist. Thisadvantageously enables avoidance of multiple collections of the samedata. Thus, the profile scanning tool 112 ultimately generates a list ofHomeSpaces used by each custodian, and this list may be presented to thee-discovery manager when a collection of a custodian's HomeSpaces isinitialized, as discussed in detail below.

In addition to storing a list of personal computers and HomeSpaces usedby a particular custodian, which lists were generated by the profilescanning tool 112 and the mapping tool 114 respectively, in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention, the database server 120is also configured to store a list of any shared network storage areasused by the custodian. As used herein, a shared network storage area isa network storage area associated with multiple users who read data fromand/or write data to it. Shared network storage areas may also be in theform of network storage devices or folders or other resources withinnetwork storage devices and may be referred to hereafter for claritypurposes as “Shared Drives.” The user interface 118 is configured toreceive a path of a Shared Drive input by the e-discovery manager andstore the path in the Unified Directory 122 in relation to one or morecustodians' human resources identifier(s). More particularly, in someembodiments, once a particular user of the communication network 102 ischosen for the collection process, the e-discovery manager may undertaketo identify the particular shared network resources that that individualis using, and eventually, the paths associated with those shared networkresources. This may be accomplished through conversations with theparticular individual, by utilizing data returned from the localcollection tool 132 executed on collection server 130 (shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 4) deployed to the particular user's machine (asdiscussed in detail below), and/or by utilizing a file browsing tool 116executed on electronic discovery manager server 110 (as shown in FIG.2).

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the filebrowsing tool 116 is configured to be utilized by the e-discoverymanager through the user interface 118. The file browsing tool 116 givesthe e-discovery manager elevated authority within the communicationnetwork 102 to access, in a limited manner, the enterprise file servers150 within the communication network 102. While the file browsing tool116 may not allow access to the actual files stored on certain fileservers, it allows the e-discovery manager to browse through thedirectories of the file servers 150, locate files that have beenaccessed by the custodian, and determine the size of the files. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the e-discovery manager may initiallyhave a general idea of a particular file server within the enterprisefile servers 150 that the custodian has used in the past. For example,the custodian may communicate to the e-discovery manager a particularfolder name and/or drive name on which he/she has stored files.Additionally, in some embodiments, the e-discovery manager may havealready undertaken a local collection process on the custodian'smachine, wherein the local collection tool 132 returned a list of thenetwork resources that the user of that machine has used. In that event,the e-discovery manager may be aware of the particular drive referencedby the user. The e-discovery manager may then employ the file browsingtool 116 to browse out to the particular drive mentioned, scan thefolders for any folder having a name resembling that name given by theuser, identify any particular files created by and/or accessed by theuser, determine the size of such files, and retrieve the path of anyfolder (or Shared Drive) including data belonging to the user.

The retrieved paths of the Shared Drives may then be added, eithermanually or automatically, to the Unified Directory 122 in the databaseserver 120. Thus, the Unified Directory 122 may store in connection withone custodian (and in particular in relation to the custodian's humanresources identifier) a list of the personal computers, HomeSpaces, andShared Drives associated with that custodian. Each of these locations isa potential source of data stored by the custodian, and once aninvestigation or collection of a custodian is initiated, the locationinformation stored in the Unified Directory 122 may be accessed todetermine the particular storage locations that need to be addressedduring the investigation/collection. In other embodiments, the paths ofthe Shared Drives are not added to the Unified Directory 122 but merelystored in the case record 124 of one or more of the case(s) on which thecustodian has been added to be accessed later when collections areinitialized for the case. Therefore, according to some embodiments, thelocation storage information for a particular custodian is generated andstored either in the custodian's entry in the Unified Directory 122 orin another location where it is linked to the entry or otherwise readilyaccessible when accessing the custodian entry. Once the custodian isassigned to a particular case, the information may be automaticallyaccessed through the Unified Directory 122 (as the custodian entry inthe Unified Directory 122 is linked to the case record 124) and used toinitiate collection of the custodian's files. This is advantageous andextremely efficient as it allows a completely automatedinvestigation/collection process, rather than relying on the e-discoverymanager to manually input the targeted machines and file servers at thetime of collection.

It should be noted that the Unified Directory 122 may be regularly orcontinuously updated as new information is gathered using the toolsdescribed herein. More particularly, the electronic discovery managementserver 110 may be configured to automatically retrieve data from thehuman resources databases and Active Directory and any other relevantsources, such as information technology directories or lists, as well asdeploy the profile scanning tool 112 and the mapping tool 114, atregularly scheduled intervals. Alternatively, rather than periodicallyretrieving data from the various data sources such as the humanresources databases, the system 100 may be configured such that thedatabase server 120 is continuously interfacing with the data sourcessuch that the Unified Directory 122 is updated in real-time as the datawithin the data sources change. In either instance, each of the feeds ofinformation into the Unified Directory 122 is regularly updated toensure that the data in the Unified Directory 122 is current.

In some embodiments, the database server 120 is configured such that allhistorical data relating to a custodian is stored in relation to thatcustodian's human resources identifier in the Unified Directory 122.Thus, when the feeds of information into the Unified Directory 122 areupdated, in the event data relating to the custodian has changed, thedatabase server 120 is configured to store in the Unified Directory 122the new data and any relevant metadata, including, for example, the timeand date of the change, as well as maintain a record of the old data sothat it is still a part of the custodian's profile in the UnifiedDirectory 122. For example, in the event the profile scanning tool 114identifies a new personal computer associated with a custodian and oneof the personal computers associated with the custodian previously is nolonger identified, the database server 120 is configured to store in theUnified Directory 122 the information for each computer, as well asindications as to when the new computer was first identified and whenthe old computer was no longer identified. In this way, the custodianprofile within the Unified Database 122 may include a history of thepersonal computers used by the custodian. Such information may berelevant at the time of investigation or collection of the custodian.

One feed of information into the Unified Directory 122 which isparticularly relevant to electronic discovery is employment status.According to some embodiments, when the feed of information from thehuman resources databases to the Unified Directory 122 includes a changeas to employment status of a particular custodian, the electronicdiscovery management server 110 is configured to recognize the changeand possibly perform particular functions in response. Morespecifically, in the event it is recorded in the Unified Directory 122that the employment status of a particular custodian changes from activeto terminated, the electronic discovery management server 110 isconfigured to determine whether the custodian is assigned to any case ormatter, and, if so, to transmit to the designated manager or contact forthe case or matter an electronic communication notifying the manager ofthe terminated status and inquiring as to whether the manager would likethe terminated custodian's data collected. In the event the managerresponds in the affirmative, the electronic discovery management server110 is configured to automatically initiate the various collectionprocesses of the present invention. Therefore, the custodian's data maybe advantageously collected prior to any destruction or unavailabilitythat could be caused by the termination. Alternatively, in otherembodiments, the electronic discovery management server 110 may notcommunicate with the manager and may automatically initiate collectionupon recognizing a change in employment status.

Case Management

With regard to case management processes, according to some embodiments,a case may be initialized by the e-discovery manager utilizing the userinterface 118. In this regard, the e-discovery manager may enter intothe user interface 118 certain information about a particular matter orcase, such as a case name and/or number, a short description of thematter/case, a legal identifier, the particular requester (i.e., whoasked for the case to be opened), managers or contacts for the matter(i.e., individuals involved in the substance of the matter rather thanthe process, like the e-discovery manager), custodians, etc. Theelectronic discovery management server 110 is configured to store thisinformation in the case database 124 in the database server 120. Thecase database 124 is configured to house this information such that allinformation relating to a particular matter or case is related withinthe case database 124 and a user can use the user interface 118 to viewa profile of the matter or case including all the information.

Once the matter and/or case has been initialized, the e-discoverymanager may add custodians to the matter or case from whom data may berequired to be collected. In some embodiments, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is configured to add numerous custodians to asingle matter or case at one time. In this regard, the e-discoverymanager may use the user interface 118 to enter in identifyinginformation about the custodians. The identifying information for eachcustodian does not have to be of the same type. For example, a name maybe entered for one custodian, an email address for another, a networkuser identification for another, and a human resources identifier foranother. The user interface 118 is configured to receive the identifyinginformation in different input areas depending upon the type ofidentifying information being received. The electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is configured to use the input information tosearch the Unified Directory 122 in the database server 120 to determinewhich custodians are associated with the input information. In the caseof a human resources identifier being entered, only one custodian in theUnified Directory 122 may be a match. On the other hand, in the case ofa name being entered, multiple records may be returned with explanatorydetails, thus enabling the e-discovery manager to select the appropriatematch based on the additional details provided.

The electronic discovery management server 110, after searching theUnified Directory 122 with the input identifying information, isconfigured to present through the user interface 118 a list of allcustodians matching the input identifying information. In the event onlyone match was returned for a particular set of input identifyinginformation, the electronic discovery management server 110 isconfigured to automatically select the custodian to be added to the caseor matter. On the other hand, in the event more than one match waslocated for a particular set of input identifying information, then themultiple matches may be presented together to the e-discovery managerthrough the user interface 118 and marked so that the e-discoverymanager must review the multiple custodian profiles associated with thematches to determine the correct custodian that should be added to thecase or matter. In doing so, the e-discovery manager may consider theother information in the profiles, such as corporate title, worklocation, associated custodians, etc. Such information can inform thee-discovery manager as to whether the located custodian is the oneintended. The e-discovery manager may then select the correct custodianfor addition to the case or matter and confirm that all custodiansselected may be added to the case or matter.

According to some embodiments, “adding” a custodian to a case or matterinvolves linking the custodian profile in the Unified Directory 122 tothe case or matter in the case database 124. More specifically, theelectronic discovery management server 110 is configured to, once aparticular custodian is identified to be added to a particular case,enter into the custodian section of the relevant case record within thecase database 124 an identification of the custodian, i.e. thecustodian's name, and a link to the custodian's profile in the UnifiedDirectory. According to other embodiments, the custodian's profileinformation is retrieved and copied into the case record by theelectronic discovery management server 110. In either instance, when acollection for a particular custodian is initiated in a particular caseby the e-discovery manager, the electronic discovery management server110 will automatically access the custodian profile for the custodianand determine the particular data storage locations that apply to thatcustodian. Thus, as will be discussed in detail below, in situations inwhich the custodian has already been added to the case and matter, thee-discovery manager must only select the particular custodian forcollection, and the remaining collection process will be automated,because the Unified Directory 122 already houses all of the relevantinformation to access the custodian's data and the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is configured to automatically implement thevarious collection tools. This is a highly advantageous improvement overthe systems of the prior art.

According to some embodiments, upon adding custodians to a matter, theelectronic discovery management server 110 is configured to initiate thetransmission of preservation notices and surveys to the custodians. Inthis regard, preservation notices and surveys relevant to the particularcase or matter are stored in or linked to the case profile in the casedatabase 124. Transmission of the preservation notices and surveys tocustodians added to the case may be automated, for example, there may bepreset instructions within the case profile that cause the electronicdiscovery management server 110 to transmit a particular preservationnotice and survey at a particular date or time or upon a particulartriggering event, such as a custodian being added to the case, or thee-discovery manager may manually cause the preservation notices andsurveys to be transmitted. In some embodiments, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is configured to transmit the preservation noticesand surveys via a standard email function. The surveys may be tied tothe preservation notices such that they are transmitted to custodianstogether, and one survey may be tied to more than one preservationnotice. When a custodian responds to a survey, the survey response isreceived by the electronic discovery management server 110 and stored inrelation to the relevant custodian in the case profile in the casedatabase 124. In other embodiments, the architecture of the casedatabase 124 may be configured such that it flexibly enables a user tolink any/all preservation notice(s) and/or survey responses from aparticular custodian to that custodian, regardless of the particularcase to which the preservation notice and/or survey response relates.Furthermore, the electronic discovery management server 110 may beconfigured to store all or a portion of the data received in the surveyresponse in the Unified Directory 122 in the custodian's profile.

According to some embodiments, each transmission of a preservationnotice and survey to a custodian, and each corresponding response, istracked in the relevant case profile in the case database 124. Theelectronic discovery management server 110 may also be configured totransmit reminder notices if responses to the surveys are not receivedwithin a predefined period of time. The electronic discovery managementserver 110 may also be configured to schedule reminder notices to besent to custodians to periodically refresh the custodians' memory oftheir duty to preserve files/documents pertaining to the matter. In someembodiments, there is a “legal hold portal” in which the custodian ispresented with a single view of all outstanding legal holds applicableto the custodian. In this legal hold portal, the custodian is presentedwith a comprehensive view of all outstanding notices and obligations topreserve data. If the custodian has somehow failed to acknowledgecompliance with the legal hold, the legal hold portal will also providethat information to the custodian, thus providing an advantageous methodof securing affirmation from the custodian. According to someembodiments, the reminder notices may be inactivated upon closure ortermination of a case or matter, but can then be reactivated by thee-discovery manager. In some embodiments, once a preservation notice hasbeen sent to a custodian, the electronic discovery management server 110may undertake to prevent any reimaging or refreshing of the custodian'spersonal computer(s) by transmitting an alert of the preservation noticeto the enterprise's information technology management group. Inaddition, the survey responses received from custodians serve to informthe collection process. For example, one survey may inquire as to whatnetwork storage devices the custodian uses when storing data. The answerthat the custodian gives to the survey may inform the addition of SharedDrives to the custodian profile in the Unified Database 122 that may beused later in collection.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the e-discoverymanager may utilize the user interface 118 to add attachments, notes,tasks, and search terms to a case or matter. In some embodiments, thecontacts/managers for a case may also access the case profile in thecase database 124 using a web browser and may add attachments, notes,tasks, and search terms to be stored therein. Thus, the e-discoverymanager may not be the only entity with access to the case and casemanagement tools of the electronic discovery management server 110. Thesubject matter of the attachments, notes and tasks could be anythingrelevant to the case or matter. In some embodiments, the tasks aredirected to the e-discovery manager or case manager or collector. Inother embodiments, the tasks are tasks that particular custodians mustcomplete and the electronic discovery management server 110 isconfigured to transmit a notice to the custodians that that the taskneeds to be completed, perhaps using standard email functions. Withregard to attachments, the e-discovery manager, or the contact/managerof the case, may upload relevant files to be attached to the caseprofile.

With regard to the search terms, the e-discovery manager or the casecontacts or managers may add certain terms to the case profile to beapplied when searching the collected data to locate data responsive orrelevant to the underlying issues in the case. Storing the search termswithin the case profile is advantageous as it creates a record of thesearching that is to be undertaken with respect to the data and aids inorganization of the data, as discussed further below.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, when a decisionis made that it is time to collect from certain custodians in a matter,the e-discovery manager may use the user interface 118 to release thecustodians from the matter to the underlying case. This release triggersthe commencement of collection of the custodians' data using the varioustools of the system and the data storage information housed in thecustodians' entries in the Unified Directory 122 and linked to the caserecord 124. Furthermore, as discussed briefly above and in detail below,from release of the custodians (i.e. selection of those custodians inthe matter to be released to the case by the e-discovery manager) tocollection and storage of the collected data, the process may beentirely automated. In some embodiments, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 is configured to allow all custodians assigned tothe matter to be released to the case at the same time. In addition, ininstances where the e-discovery manager has previously created groups ofcustodians within the case, the electronic discovery management server110 is configured to allow a group of custodians to be released from amatter to a case at the same time. In some embodiments, automatedcollection of the custodian's data can occur at the time the custodianis released from the matter to the case, thus minimizing the risk ofspoliation.

Data Management

Once a custodian has been identified for collection, whether manually bythe e-discovery manager or by being released from a matter to a case,the electronic discovery system 100 is configured to automaticallycollect the custodian's data using the location information stored inthe Unified Directory 122. Therefore, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 accesses the custodian profile of the custodian tobe collected in the Unified Directory 122 and determines, from theinformation stored therein, the different locations of data storage forthe particular custodian that must be collected. There are manydifferent locations that the system 100 can address, including personalcomputers, email accounts, and network storage areas, includingHomeSpaces and Shared Drives.

If a custodian profile (for a custodian released for collection)includes at least one personal computer(s) associated with thecustodian, then the electronic discovery management server 110 mayundertake to collect the files on these machines. Therefore, theelectronic discovery management server 110 may retrieve the relevantmachine identifying information, such as domain, name, IP address, etc.,and may initialize deployment of a local collection tool 132 running oncollections server 130 (as shown in FIG. 4).

The local collection tool 132 is configured to be deployed from thecollections server 130, whether through an application running on thecollections server 130 or otherwise, or another server within thenetwork 102 to any of the enterprise personal computers 140. Therefore,for a particular custodian, the local collection tool 132 is configuredto utilize the machine identifying information supplied by theelectronic discovery management server 110 to be deployed to theidentified custodian computer. According to one embodiment, the localcollection tool 132 is configured to be automatically installed on thetarget custodian's personal computer. The local collection tool 132 isfurther configured to generate a snapshot of the data residing on thelocal storage of the personal computer 140, for example, by using acommercially available tool such as the Volume Shadow Copy Service,store the snapshot in a storage area on the personal computer, andtransmit copies of the files included in the snapshot to the collectionsserver 130. By transmitting the data from the snapshot of the datastored on the hard drive of the personal computer, the local collectiontool 132 advantageously allows the custodian to continue to use hermachine without substantial interference from the local collection tool132 and even interact with the data stored on the hard drive as thesnapshot of the data is being transmitted to the collections server 130.In some embodiments of the invention, the tool may be deployed to theusers' computer and harvest all relevant files without the users'knowledge, and with no noticeable performance degradation to the users'machines. This is advantageous when attempting to collect data from auser that may be under investigation for alleged wrongdoing, forexample.

In addition to the functions described above, the local collection tool132 may also be configured to transmit to the database server 120 acatalog of the files included in the snapshot to be stored in theongoing collections database. This catalog may be referenced by thecollections server 130 in order to determine whether collection iscomplete and to resume interrupted collections at the point ofinterruption. Additionally, in accordance with some embodiments, thelocal collection tool 132 is configured to compile and transmit to theelectronic discovery management server 110 a list of network resourcesthe user is using, including, for example, network applications and fileservers that the user has used, accessed, or mapped as network drives.This list of resources may be stored in the database server 120 in thecustodian's profile in the Unified Directory 122. With regard totransmission of the files themselves, according to one embodiment of theinvention, the local collection tool 132 is configured to compress,hash, and upload the files included in the snapshot to the collectionsserver 130.

In some embodiments, the electronic discovery management server 110 mayutilize a computer watching tool 117 to determine when to attempt acollection from a custodian's machine. The computer watching tool 117 isconfigured to monitor the network 102 and determine which of theenterprise personal computers 140 are online. Therefore, in the eventthere is a custodian whose local machine needs to be collected, thecomputer watching tool 117 is configured to determine when that machinejoins the network 102 (i.e., when it appears to the computer watchingtool 117) and inform the electronic discovery management server 110 thatit should initialize the local collection tool 132 immediately.

If a custodian profile (for a custodian released for collection)includes any paths for HomeSpaces or Shared Drives, then the electronicdiscovery management server 110 may undertake to collect the files fromthese file servers by initializing the file server collection tool 134running on collection server 130 (as shown in FIG. 4). The file servercollection tool 134 is configured to access the file server located atthe given path, whether the file server is a HomeSpace or a SharedDrive, copy the data residing on the file server, and compress, hash,and transmit the copied data to the collections server 130. The fileserver collection tool 134 may be programmed with preset instructionsthat allow it to only copy files meeting certain criteria, for example,files that have certain file extensions. Alternatively, the programmedinstructions may prevent the file server collection tool 134 fromcopying files having certain file extensions or other attributes. Eitherof the foregoing is advantageous if the e-discovery manager is notinterested in copying executable files or source code, for example. Insome embodiments, the file server collection tool 134 is also configuredto generate a size estimate of the files residing on the targeted fileserver. In one embodiment, the file server collection tool 134 mayautomatically begin the collection process (copying and transmittingdata) if the size estimate falls below a predetermined threshold. Inaddition, in some embodiments, the file server collection tool 134 isconfigured to determine whether a particular folder that it iscollecting from a file server includes more than a token amount ofnearline files, and, in the event that the folder does include suchnearline files, choose to not collect such files so as to avoidoverloading the server. Therefore, according to different embodiments,the file server collection tool 134 copies all or a portion of the filesresiding on a file server located at the path given in the releasedcustodian's profile and transmits them to the collections server 130.

If a custodian profile (for a custodian released for collection)includes an email address for an email account on the enterprise emailserver 160, then the electronic discovery management server 110 mayundertake to collect the files from the enterprise email server 160 byinitializing the active email collection tool 136 running on collectionsserver 130 (as shown in FIG. 4). In some embodiments, the active emailcollection tool 136 is configured to access the particular MicrosoftExchange server within the enterprise email server 160 on which thecustodian's account resides (which is known based on the informationincluded in the Unified Directory 122), copy all email located there,including emails deleted by the custodian up to a predetermined periodof time prior to the collection, (for example, seven days prior to thecollection) and transmit the copied emails to the collections server130.

Regardless of the storage resource location from which data is beingcollected, or the particular type of data being collected, thecollections server 130 is configured to store the data first (while thecollection is still ongoing) in the short-term staging drive 180 untilthe particular collection is complete, attach a barcode to the set ofdata resulting from the particular collection, and then copy the dataset to the long-term storage area network 190 for permanent storage. Insome embodiments, the barcode is generated at the time the collectionprocess is initiated by the electronic discovery management server 110and acts as a folder within which all files obtained through thecollection process are placed. Thus, the barcode is stored with thecollected data in the long-term storage area network 190 and is used toidentify and access the data collected data at a later time. The logfile of the barcode could include the time and date of the collection,the name of the requester, the particular file extension typesrequested, or any other information that would be useful in identifyingor referring to the collection.

In some embodiments, the collections server 130 or another servertransmits metadata about the collected data to the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 to be stored in the database server 120, forexample, in the custodian's profile in the Unified Database 122, inrelation to the stored information about the particular collection,whether it was a local collection, an active email collection, a fileserver collection, etc. In other embodiments, the barcode information,or an actual link to the barcode in the long-term storage area network190, is stored within the case record 124 and/or the custodian profilein the Unified Directory 122 at the same time that the barcode isgenerated. In either instance, the barcode can be used for reference bythe e-discovery manager by viewing the case record 124 or the custodianprofile, as the case may be, at a later date to determine whatcollections have already occurred in the case or for the particularcustodian. This is particularly advantageous in an enterpriseenvironment or any environment in which multiple cases must be managedand custodians can be assigned to multiple cases, because it allows thee-discovery manager to readily locate and access data that was collectedpreviously from a custodian, perhaps for a different case, and use thedata, either for discovery purposes or to inform the collection process.

After the data has been copied to the long-term storage area network190, the collections server 130 compares the hashing of the data inpermanent storage to the original data in the staging drive 180 and, ifthe hashing is identical, purges the data from the staging drive 180.Once the data has entered the long-term storage area network 190, it isnot necessarily ready for review. Indeed, it is likely that the data mayneed to be processed before it is searchable and suitable for review byinvestigators and attorneys. For example, the files may be encrypted inthe form in which they are collected and sent to the long-term storagearea network 190. Therefore, according to some embodiments, the data maybe copied to the conversion services server 170 where a series ofdecryption and standardization functions may be applied to it. After thedata is decrypted and standardized, it is returned to the long-termstorage area network 190 and may remain there to be accessed for reviewpurposes.

With reference now to FIG. 5, a block diagram is provided thatillustrates the electronic discovery management structure of the presentinvention, according to some embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 5,certain processes described herein may be categorized within one of casemanagement, as represented by Block 200, custodian management, asrepresented by Block 220, or data management, as represented by Block240. As described above, the electronic discovery system 100 is arrangedsuch that cases, custodians and data may be managed independent of oneanother. However, there is still an element of the categorization ofprocesses within the categories that is conceptual, and it should beunderstood that certain processes may be correctly assigned to more thanone category. Therefore, while the architecture of the system 100 allowsseparate management of custodians, cases, and data, certain processes ofthe present invention may affect more than one of the foregoing.

The first process that falls within the case management category iscreation of a matter or case as a framework for litigation supportactivities, as shown in Block 202. As described above, the e-discoverymanager may enter into the user interface 118 certain information abouta particular matter or case, such as a case name and/or number, a shortdescription of the matter/case, a legal identifier, the particularrequester (i.e., who asked for the case to be opened), managers orcontacts for the matter (i.e., individuals involved in the substance ofthe matter rather than the process, like the e-discovery manager) etc.

It is noted that custodian information is stored separately from thecase information allowing for the same custodian in multiple cases. Thisprovides for the electronic discovery system of the present invention tohave scalability, whereby evidence associated with one custodian may beused in multiple cases.

The electronic discovery management server 110 stores this informationin the case database 124 in the database server 120. The case database124 houses this information such that all information relating to aparticular matter or case is related within the case database 124 and auser, such as a manager or contact, can use the user interface 118 toview and edit a profile of the matter or case.

The next process within case management is the creation of preservationnotices and surveys specific to the matter, as shown in Block 204. Inthis regard, the e-discovery manager may, through the user interface118, either generate a new preservation notices or surveys relevant tothe particular case or matter to be stored in the case profile in thecase database 124 or, alternatively, link a preservation notice orsurvey already stored in the database server 120 to the case profile ofthe specific case or matter at issue. Also within case management is thecreation of search terms pertinent to the case, as represented by Block206. As described above, the e-discovery manager or a contact or managerfor the case may use the user interface 118 to input individual searchterms or search term sets to be applied to the data harvested in thecase. In some embodiments, the search terms may be limited to be usedwith particular custodians and/or with particular harvested data types.The search terms will be saved in the case database 124 so that they maybe readily applied to harvested data and used in connection with storingthe resulting responsive data.

The processes of entering relevant attachments, notes and updates to aparticular case or matter also falls within the case managementcategory, as demonstrated by Blocks 208 and 210. The e-discovery manageror a case contact or manager may use the user interface 118 to uploaddocuments and enter notes and other relevant data, including updates andreminders, to be stored in the case profile of the case in the casedatabase 124. Once these attachments, notes and updates are added, theymay be referenced whenever a user views the case profile through theuser interface 118. The cost estimation modules of the present inventionare also processes that are categorized as case management processes, asshown in Block 212. In this regard, the electronic discovery managementserver 110 utilizes a cost estimation tool to determine the cost ofharvesting and reviewing data, based on a number of factors including,for example, number of custodians, amount of harvested data, data types,historical averages for specific data types, etc. Finally, casemanagement also includes a number of tasking and workflow processes thatare represented by block 214.

Moving now to custodian management, certain processes falling within thecategory of custodian management are shown in Block 220. While theprocesses involving generation of the Unified Directory 122 certainlycould be categorized as custodian management, the processes shown inFIG. 5 include those processes involving management of custodians withinthe scope of a case or matter. In that regard, the first process ofcustodian management included in FIG. 5 is the addition of custodians toa case or matter, as shown in Block 222. As described above, thee-discovery manager may use the user interface 118 to link a custodian'sprofile from the Unified Directory 122 to the particular case profile inthe case database 124. Thus, the custodian profile and case profile arecorrelated. The next processes within custodian management is thetransmission of preservation notices and surveys to custodians, as shownin Block 224, and the presentation of the surveys to custodians, asshown in Block 226. It should be understood that, in some embodiments,the system that transmits the surveys may operate independently of thesystem by which the preservation notices are sent to custodians. In someembodiments, the electronic discovery management server 110 uses thecontact information in the custodian's profile in the Unified Directory122 to transmit the preservation notice(s) and survey(s) stored in thecase profile to the custodian. In some embodiments, a standard emailfunction is used, so that the only information needed from the UnifiedDirectory 122 is the custodian's email address. When the custodianchecks her email, the request to complete the survey will appear as amessage therein, and when she opens that message content, the surveywill be presented to her. The survey may be configured such that whenshe fills it out, the survey is automatically transmitted back to thedatabase server 120 for storage in the case profile and the custodian'sprofile.

Also falling within custodian management is the process of releasingcustodians from a matter to a case, as shown in Block 228. Thee-discovery manager uses the user interface 118 to mark the custodian'sprofile so that the custodian is now activated for collection of data.This may occur within the case database 124 since the custodian'sprofile is linked thereto. Once the custodian is released, theelectronic discovery management server 110 may access the custodian'sprofile and initialize collection based on the various data storagelocations identified in the profile. Therefore, as represented by Block230, the electronic discovery management server 110 may automaticallydetermine the data types and locations of data to be harvested byaccessing the custodian's profile in the Unified Directory 122.Alternatively, the e-discovery manager may manually make the samedetermination by accessing and viewing the custodian's profile. Finally,as with case management, custodian management also includes a number oftasking and workflow processes that are represented by Block 232.

The last category is data management, represented by Block 240. Onemajor set of processes within data management are the processes relatingto the harvesting of data, as shown in Block 242. These processesinclude the collection of data from all the different storage areas of aparticular custodian, including the custodian's local storage on herpersonal computer(s), the custodian's network storage areas, thecustodian's email, and any other areas, as are described herein. All ofthe data in the various storage areas is copied and transmitted to thecollections server 130, as described in detail for each particularcollection tool or process. Upon reaching the collections server 130,data resulting from a particular collection is temporarily stored in theshort-term staging drive 180 until the collection is complete, at whichpoint it is stored in the long-term storage area network 190 inassociation with a specific identifying barcode. The foregoing processis represented by Block 244. The data may require decryption orstandardization functions to be applied to it in order for it to besearchable and/or otherwise usable, so the next process that fallswithin data management is the copying of the data to the conversionservices server 170 for analysis and conversion as necessary, as shownin Block 246. Once the data is converted, it is returned to thelong-term storage area network 190 to be used in review.

Also falling within data management is the association of particulardata sets with particular sets of search terms stored in the caseprofile of the case database 124. In this regard, certain search termsstored in the case profile are stored with the intention of beingapplied to certain types of data, certain custodian's data, and/or aparticular barcode associated with a certain collected data set.Alternatively, certain search terms may be applied to all data collectedfor a specific case. In either instance, the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 accesses the case profile, determines the searchterms to be applied, and associates the search terms with the barcode ofthe appropriate data sets in long-term storage. Thus, the search termswill be applied to that data and the results will be generated andpresented to reviewers for analysis. Finally, as with the othermanagement categories, data management also includes a number of taskingand workflow processes that are represented by Block 250.

With reference to FIG. 6, an exemplary process for managing a case isprovided, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Asrepresented by Block 302, a case or matter is created by the e-discoverymanager and stored in the case database 124. Next, custodians are addedto the case, as shown in Block 304, by linking the custodian profiles ofthe Unified Directory 122 to the case profile. Next, as represented byBlock 306, the e-discovery manager and/or the case contact or manageradds search terms to be applied to data harvested for the case,including instructions as to applying the search terms to particulardata types or custodians. Block 310 represents the determination thatmust be made as to whether there is a matter or just a case. If there isno matter because preservation notices are not required, for example,for an audit, then the process will move straight to the initializationof data collection. On the other hand, if there is matter, rather thanjust a case, then the creation of preservation notices is required, asshown in Block 312.

The preservation notice, as shown in Block 314 is transmitted to thecustodians added to the matter, perhaps using email. As shown in Block316, a reminder notice module may be employed. As shown in Block 318,the reminder notice module transmits periodic reminder notices tocustodians. The notices may be sent over email and may remind custodiansabout the preservation notice and/or remind custodians to fill outsurveys. With regard to surveys, in the event a survey is required ordesired, according to Block 320, a survey is created. The survey may besaved in the case profile in the case database 124. As shown in Block322, it is possible to enable the survey to be attached to andtransmitted with the preservation notices.

Next, as shown in Block 324, the e-discovery manager may releasecustodians from the matter to the case, which initialized collection ofthe custodian's data. As shown in Block 326, the e-discovery manager orthe electronic discovery management server 122 accesses the custodianprofile, determines the data types and location to be collected, andinitializes the applicable collection tools to go collect the data. Oncethe data has been collected and a unique barcode has been assigned toeach dataset based on the particular custodian and storage location fromwhich it originated, as shown in Block 328, the search terms previouslystored in the case profile may be assigned to the dataset based on theinput instructions regarding the search terms. These search terms may beapplied to the dataset and the results saved to be presented toreviewers for analysis.

With reference to FIG. 7, an exemplary process for managing a custodianis provided, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.First, as represented by Block 402, a custodian is added to a matter orcase. In this regard, the custodian's profile in the Unified Directory122 is linked to the relevant case or matter profile. In order to locatethe custodian's profile, a custodian search module may be employed, asshown in Block 404. Therefore, the e-discovery manager may enter anyidentifying information about the custodian, whether it is thecustodian's name, network user identification, email address, etc. Thecustodian search module will take the input information and search theUnified Directory 122 for a match. If more than one match is obtained,the user interface 118 will present all matches and allow thee-discovery manager to browse the associated profiles to determine theintended custodian. In this way, the correct custodian is identified andthe profile of that custodian is linked to the appropriate case ormatter.

As represented by Block 406, the electronic discovery management server110 may determine whether the particular custodian added is a member ofthe enterprise “do-not-contact list.” In this regard, there may be anindication in the custodian's profile in the Unified Directory 122 thatthe particular custodian should not be contacted regarding collections,and an alternative contact should be used, such as an administrativeassistant of the custodian. Alternatively, there may be a separatedo-not-contact list stored in the database server 120 that must beaccessed and searched to determine whether or not the custodian appearson that list. In either instance, a determination is made as to whetheror not the custodian should be directly contacted, and in the event thecustodian should not be directly contacted, the contact information forthe custodian's assistant (or other stand-in) should be obtained. Thisinformation will be used later for transmitting preservation notices andsurveys.

Next, in accordance with Block 408, a determination is made by theelectronic discovery management server 110 as to whether the custodianhas been added to a matter or a case. If it is a case, then thecustodian is verified, as shown in Block 424, supplemental data may beadded to the custodian profile in the Unified Directory 122 as required,as shown in Block 426, and then the various collection tools areinitialized by the electronic discovery management server 110 forcollection of the custodian's data, as shown in Block 428. On the otherhand, if it is a matter, then preservation notices may be required.Therefore, as shown in Block 410, a preservation notice is sent viaemail to the custodian or custodian stand-in. As shown in Block 412, thecustodian may then be inactivated from the case because, for somereason, data does not need to be collected from the custodian. In thefuture, when it comes time to collect from the custodian, the custodianwill be reactivated, as shown in Block 422. For example, a particularindividual may have been added as a potential custodian, but was laterdeemed to be unimportant based on initial review, thus leading toinactivation. On secondary review, however, a realization may be madethat this person is of importance after all, thus necessitatingre-activation. Such inactivation and reactivation does not affect theactual data collection process and only impacts the matter(pre-collection) level of a particular case.

After a preservation notice is sent, a determination is made by theelectronic discovery management server 110 as to whether a survey isrequired, as shown in Block 414. It should be noted that in alternateembodiments the decision on whether to send a survey may be made priorto sending the preservation notice. In such alternate embodiments, ifthe survey is required, it may become a component of the preservationnotice and, thus, accessed simultaneously by the custodian. If a surveyis required, it is transmitted in conjunction with a preservationnotice, and the answers are collected by the electronic discoverymanagement server 110 and stored in the database server 120, as shown inBlock 416. Reminder notices for the preservation notices and surveys mayalso be transmitted to the custodian, as shown in Block 420. Next, onceit is time to collect data, the custodian is released from the matter tothe case, as shown in Block 418, and the various collection tools areinitialized by the electronic discovery management server 110 forcollection of the custodian's data, as shown in Block 428. In thisprocess, the custodian's profile in the Unified Directory 122 isaccessed in order to determine the various locations where the custodianmay have stored data. Finally, as shown in Block 430, the custodian'sdata is collected.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, flow diagrams are presented of a method 500for harvest data from various data sources, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. At Event 502, the process wherebydata is collected is initiated and, at Event 504, the type of data isidentified. Data Block 506 signifies active email that is collected froman exchange system or the like. At Event 508 the automated active emailcollection tool is implemented to collect email from identified emailaddress. As previously noted, and in accordance with present embodimentsof the invention, if a custodian profile (for a custodian released forcollection) includes an email address for an email account on theenterprise email server (160), then the electronic discovery managementserver (110) may undertake to collect the files from the enterpriseemail server (160) by initializing the active email collection tool(136) running on collections server (130). In some embodiments, theactive email collection tool (136) is configured to access theparticular Microsoft Exchange server within the enterprise email server160 on which the custodian's account resides (which is known based onthe information included in the Unified Directory 122), copy all emaillocated there, including emails deleted up to a designated prior period,for example, seven days prior to the collection, and transmit the copiedemails to the collections server (130). The email collection tool isalso capable of implementing bulk requests and for collecting email on ascheduled basis, such as daily. The email collection tool isadditionally capable of being implementing enterprise wide and requiresno server identifiers or the like to collect the active email. In thisregard, the email collection tool (136) serves to reduce security risk.

At Event 510, a barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set ofemail resulting from the particular collection. The barcoded data isthen copied and communicated to the long-term storage area network (190)for permanent storage. Furthermore, the collections server (130)transmits the barcode information to the electronic discovery managementserver (110) to be stored in the database server (120), for example, inthe custodian's profile in the Unified Database (122), in relation tothe stored information about the particular collection. Therefore, thebarcode can be used for reference at a later date to determine theorigin of the data. After the data has been copied to the long-termstorage area network (190), the collections server (130) compares thehashing of the data in permanent storage to the original data in thestaging drive (180) and, if the hashing is identical, purges the datafrom the staging drive (180). As such, barcoding is performed withoutthe need to execute the barcoding tool on an exchange server and, assuch no human intervention is needed in the barcode process. Inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention, one barcode may beassigned per custodian, per data type and per event (i.e., case, matter,etc.)

At Event 512, the collected email data may be associated with a specificsearch term set or sets. When the search terms are applied, a listing ofthe files and documents including those terms (the “search term hitlist”) are presented to the reviewer and also stored in the databaseserver (120). The reviewer may provide an indication of this to theelectronic discovery management server 110, which may then make adetermination that other documents within the search term hit list aremore likely to be responsive.

At Event 514, the collected and barcoded active email data is copied toa processing drive for subsequent analysis. It should be noted that thenature of email data obviates the need to perform conversion and/ordecryption on the data set. At Event 516, the active email data set isloaded into the analysis tool and, at Event 518, the data set isexported to the requestor/reviewer for analysis.

Data Block 520 signifies other non-exchange server based email, such asemail accessed through a client-server, collaborative application, suchas Lotus Notes® or the like. At Event 522, NSF files or any other filetypes associated with non-exchange server based email is manuallyharvested from an enterprise-grade email server having collaborativecapabilities, such as a Lotus Domino server or the like.

At Event 522, a barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set ofnon-exchange server email resulting from the particular collection. Thebarcoded data is then copied and communicated to the long-term storagearea network (190) for permanent storage. Furthermore, the collectionsserver (130) transmits the barcode information to the electronicdiscovery management server (110) to be stored in the database server(120), for example, in the custodian's profile in the Unified Database(122), in relation to the stored information about the particularcollection. Therefore, the barcode can be used for reference at a laterdate to determine the origin of the data. After the data has been copiedto the long-term storage area network (190), the collections server(130) compares the hashing of the data in permanent storage to theoriginal data in the staging drive (180) and, if the hashing isidentical, purges the data from the staging drive (180).

At Event 526, the collected non-exchange server email data may beassociated with a specific search term set or sets. When the searchterms are applied, a listing of the files and documents including thoseterms (the “search term hit list”) are presented to the reviewer andalso stored in the database server (120). The reviewer may provide anindication of this to the electronic discovery management server 110,which may then make a determination that other documents within thesearch term hit list are more likely to be responsive.

At Event 528, the NSF files or any other file types associated withnon-exchange server based email that may be encrypted is decrypted usinga decryption tool, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. The encryption of NSF files occurs at the user level and,therefore only the user has the password necessary for decryption. Thedecryption tool allows for decryption of the NSF file-type data withoutthe knowledge of the user/encrypter. The decryption tool finds ID filesthat exist anywhere in the enterprise system, creates a database of theID files, associates the database with the user/encrypter andsubsequently decrypts the data.

At Event 530, the non-exchange server email data set is loaded into theanalysis tool and, at Event 532, the data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

Data Block 534 signifies journaled data, such as electronic commercedata stored on a repository for the purpose of regulation, compliance toregulating bodies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)or the like. At Event 536, criteria is extracted from input system andmanually entered in a designated third party system for data retrieval.

At Event 538, the barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set ofjournaled data resulting from the particular collection. The barcodeddata is then copied and communicated to the long-term storage areanetwork (190) for permanent storage. At Event 540, the collected andbarcoded journaled data may be associated with a specific search termset or sets.

At Event 542 source-to-processing is implemented to insure that anyloose files are properly formatted in a standardized format. In thisregard, according to one embodiment of the invention, loose files areexamined for relevancy and, if relevant, stored in a proper data format,such as a PST file or the like. The metadata associated with thenon-standardized files is retained and remains with the reformatted datafiles. Source to processing file conversions may be required on EMLformatted files, MSG formatted files and the like.

At Event 544, the journaled data set is loaded into the analysis tooland, at Event 546, the journaled data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

Referring to FIG. 9, data block 548 signifies data from a local PersonalComputer (PC), such as enterprise PC (140). At Event 550, the localcollection tool (132) is implemented to collect data from designated PCsby taking a “snapshot” of the device's hard drive. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the local collection tool may beautodeployed thus, obviating the need for any manual entry by thee-discovery manager or the like. In other embodiments of the invention,the local collection tool (132) may be employed to collect data fromnetwork storage.

At Event 552, the barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set oflocal PC data resulting from the particular collection. The barcodeddata is then copied and communicated to the long-term storage areanetwork (190) for permanent storage. At Event 554, the collected andbarcoded local PC data may be associated with a specific search term setor sets.

At Event 556 source-to-processing is implemented to insure that anyloose files are properly formatted in a standardized format. In thisregard, according to one embodiment of the invention, loose files areexamined for relevancy and, if relevant, stored in a proper data format,such as a PST file or the like. The metadata associated with thenon-standardized files is retained and remains with the reformatted datafiles. Source to processing file conversions may be required on EMLformatted files, MSG formatted files, IPD formatted files and the like.

At Event 558, the local PC files that may be encrypted are decryptedusing a decryption tool, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. The decryption tool allows for decryption of the PC filesdata without the knowledge of the user/encrypter. The decryption toolfinds ID files that exist anywhere in the enterprise system, creates adatabase of the ID files, associates the database with theuser/encrypter and subsequently decrypts the data.

At Event 560, the local PC data set is loaded into the analysis tooland, at Event 562, the local PC data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

Data block 564 signifies data from network storage, such as a shareddrive or HomeSpace. At Event 566, the file server collection tool (134)is implemented to automatically collect data from shared drives and/orHomeSpace. According to one embodiment of the invention, the file servercollection tool (134) may be autodeployed thus, obviating the need forany manual entry by the e-discovery manager or the like.

At Event 568, the barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set ofnetwork storage data resulting from the particular collection. Thebarcoded data is then copied and communicated to the long-term storagearea network (190) for permanent storage. At Event 570, the collectedand barcoded network storage data may be associated with a specificsearch term set or sets.

At Event 572 source-to-processing is implemented to insure that anyloose files are properly formatted in a standardized format. In thisregard, according to one embodiment of the invention, loose files areexamined for relevancy and, if relevant, stored in a proper data format,such as a PST file or the like. The metadata associated with thenon-standardized files is retained and remains with the reformatted datafiles. Source to processing file conversions may be required on EMLformatted files, MSG formatted files, IPD formatted files and the like.

At Event 574, the network storage files that may be encrypted aredecrypted using a decryption tool, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. The decryption tool allows for decryption of thenetwork storage data without the knowledge of the user/encrypter. Thedecryption tool finds ID files that exist anywhere in the enterprisesystem, creates a database of the ID files, associates the database withthe user/encrypter and subsequently decrypts the data.

At Event 576, the network storage data set is loaded into the analysistool and, at Event 578, the network storage data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

Data block 580 signifies electronic data for forensics. At Event 582, aforensic collector tool, such as EnCase® may be executed on the devicesof interest to collect data. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the forensic collector tool may be automatically deployed onthe device of interest without the knowledge of the device user. Inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention, a computer watchertool may be implemented (not shown in FIG. 9) that watches the networkto determine the addition or subtraction of computers to the networkbased on ID's/IP addresses returned from the network.

At Event 584, the barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set offorensic data resulting from the particular collection. The barcodeddata is then copied and communicated to the long-term storage areanetwork (190) for permanent storage. At Event 586, the collected andbarcoded forensic data may be associated with a specific search term setor sets.

At Event 588 source-to-processing is implemented to insure that anyloose files are properly formatted in a standardized format. In thisregard, according to one embodiment of the invention, loose files areexamined for relevancy and, if relevant, stored in a proper data format,such as a PST file or the like. The metadata associated with thenon-standardized files is retained and remains with the reformatted datafiles. Source to processing may be required on EML formatted files, MSGformatted files, IPD formatted files and the like.

At Event 590, the forensic files that may be encrypted are decryptedusing a decryption tool, in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. The decryption tool allows for decryption of the networkstorage data without the knowledge of the user/encrypter. The decryptiontool finds ID files that exist anywhere in the enterprise system,creates a database of the ID files, associates the database with theuser/encrypter and subsequently decrypts the data.

At Event 592, the forensic data set is loaded into the analysis tooland, at Event 594, the network storage data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

Data block 596 signifies collaborative data, such as data residing atdiscovery sites, for example LiveLink® or the like. At Event 598, adiscovery site collector tool, such as a LiveLink® collector tool may beexecuted on the devices of interest to collect data. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the discovery site collector preserves atleast a portion of the discovery site database in the e-discoverydatabase, including all files and all revisions of the files. In thisregard, the discovery site collector tool queries against the databaseto define what files need to be retrieved, then copies those files basedon the result of the query. Metadata pertaining to the files is retainedin the case management system tables. In accordance with anotherembodiment of the invention, the discovery site collector tool collectsthe documents and the related metadata and uses the metadata toautomatically rename the files.

At Event 600, the barcoding tool is implemented at a staging location,such as short-term staging drive (180) to attach a barcode to the set ofdiscovery site data resulting from the particular collection. Thebarcoded data is then copied and communicated to the long-term storagearea network (190) for permanent storage. At Event 602, the collectedand barcoded discovery site data may be associated with a specificsearch term set or sets.

At Event 604 source-to-processing is implemented to insure that anyloose files are properly formatted in a standardized format. In thisregard, according to one embodiment of the invention, loose files areexamined for relevancy and, if relevant, stored in a proper data format,such as a PST file or the like. The metadata associated with thenon-standardized files is retained and remains with the reformatted datafiles. Source to processing may be required on EML formatted files, MSGformatted files, IPD formatted files and the like.

At Event 606, the discovery site data set is loaded into the analysistool and, at Event 608, the discovery site data set is exported to therequestor/reviewer for analysis.

In order to illustrate the efficiencies and advantages provided by theunique structure of embodiments of the present invention, that is,separating the storage and management of custodians, cases, andcollected data but allowing linkages between them, FIGS. 10-14 provideillustrations of the user interface 118 visible to the e-discoverymanager conducting electronic discovery using an exemplary electronicdiscovery system in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 10, a screen shot of an exemplary caserecord within the case database 124 is provided. The most general caseinformation appears on the main page, with options on the left-hand sidegiven to link to other information about the case on different pages,most notably, custodians and evidence (collected data). As discussedpreviously, both the custodian profiles and the collected data are nothoused exclusively in the case record, but rather are stored elsewhere(the Unified Directory 122 and the long-term storage area network 190respectively) and linked to the case record to promote efficiency withinan enterprise electronic discovery environment.

Referring to FIG. 11, a screen shot of the custodian page of the caserecord is provided. The custodian list shown is housed within the caserecord in the case database 124, but each custodian name is a hyperlinkto the custodian profile within the Unified Directory 122. In someembodiments where the custodian profile in the Unified Directory 122does not contain all information about the custodian that may have beenobtained during various cases and/or matters; the hyperlink shows thecustodian record across all cases, including the information retrievedfrom the Unified Directory 122. Thus, all of the information regardingthe custodian does not need to be copied or manually input to the caserecord. This is particularly advantageous where a single custodian isassigned to multiple cases. Rather, according to embodiments of thepresent invention, the electronic discovery management server 110, upona particular collection being initialized, may access the UnifiedDirectory 122 in order to determine the information about the particularcustodian, including the data storage locations that the custodian uses,such as workstations, HomeSpaces, email and shared drives, and use thatinformation to automatically begin the collection process.

Referring to FIG. 12, a screen shot of the custodian profile within theUnified Directory 122 is provided. As shown, the Unified Directory 122may be queried with particular information about one or morecustodian(s), for example, name or email address, and the matchingresults will be provided. This would occur, for example, when custodiansare added to cases, as discussed in detail above. Furthermore, if thee-discovery manager is within the case record and viewing the custodianpage of the case record, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the hyperlinksprovided in the custodian names set forth in the custodian list willallow the e-discovery manager to access a page very similar to this one,except that the Directory Lookup feature will not appear. Rather,activating that hyperlink in the case record will bring the e-discoverymanager to the custodian profile, where the information about thecustodian and his or her data storage locations may be reviewed. Thus,these screen shots demonstrate how custodians are managed and storedseparately from the cases with which they may be associated according tosome embodiments of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a screen shot of the evidence page within thecase record is shown. As discussed previously, evidence metadata, likecustodian information, is stored separately from the case record andlinked to the cases and/or custodians to which it relates. This allowsthe data collected for one custodian in a particular case to be readilyaccessed and used in another case. As shown in FIG. 13, a list isprovided within the case record that sets forth all custodians from whomdata has been collected or identified for use within that specific case.Furthermore, the list of the custodian names contain hyperlinks to thecustodians' profiles within the Unified Directory 122 and/or thecustodian record across all cases (according to different embodiments),which profile or record houses a full list of the barcodes associatedwith data historically collected from that custodian. Thus, from thecase record, it is possible, according to some embodiments of thepresent invention, to readily access both a list of all collections thathave been performed for that specific case, and, through activating onehyperlink, a list of all collections that have been performed withrespect to a particular custodian.

In that regard, referring now to FIG. 14, a screen shot showing the listof barcodes associated with a particular custodian within the UnifiedDirectory 122 is shown. Thus, the list includes all data collected fromthe custodian, for any number of cases. As discussed previously, thislist may be used to access the data at any time, even if the e-discoverymanager is working on an entirely separate case. This reduces theinstances of over-collection and wasted effort and storage space bypromoting the sharing of data among cases. The screen shots provided andthe processes described merely depict one embodiment of the presentinvention. It should be appreciated that there will be numerous ways toimplement the novel concept of structuring the electronic discoverysystem such that the case, custodian, and collected data managementprocesses are separate.

Thus, present embodiments herein disclosed provide for improvements inelectronic discovery. Embodiments herein disclosed provide for anenterprise wide e-discovery system that provides for data to beidentified, located, retrieved, preserved, searched, reviewed andproduced in an efficient and cost-effective manner across the entireenterprise system. In addition, by structuring management of e-discoverybased on case/matter, custodian and data and providing for linkagebetween the same, further efficiencies are realized in terms ofidentifying, locating and retrieving data and leveraging results ofprevious e-discoveries with current requests.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments aremerely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, andthat this invention not be limited to the specific constructions andarrangements shown and described, since various other changes,combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition tothose set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible.

Those skilled in the art may appreciate that various adaptations andmodifications of the just described embodiments can be configuredwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore,it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims,the invention may be practiced other than as specifically describedherein.

1. A method for providing an electronic discovery system, comprising:providing for a case management level within an electronic discoverysystem; linking, via a computer processor, a custodial management levelto the case management level; and linking, via a computer processor, adata management level to the case management level and the custodialmanagement level.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing for thecase management level further comprises generating, via a computerprocess, one of a case or a matter within the case management level. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein providing for the case management levelfurther comprises generating, via a computer processor, one or morepreservation notices specific to a case.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein providing for the case management level further comprisesgenerating, via a computer processor, one or more surveys specific to acase.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing for the casemanagement level further comprises providing for search terms linkedwith a case.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein linking the custodialmanagement level to the case management level further comprises adding,via a computer processor, a plurality of custodians to one of a case ora matter.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein linking the custodialmanagement level to the case management level further comprisesreleasing, via a computer processor, one or more previously addedcustodians from one of a case or a matter.
 8. The method of claim 3,wherein linking the custodial management level to the case managementlevel further comprises communicating, via a computer processor, the oneor more preservation notices to one or more custodians.
 9. The method ofclaim 4, wherein linking the custodial management level to the casemanagement level further comprises communicating, via a computerprocessor, the one or more surveys to one or more custodians.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein linking the custodial management level to thecase management level further comprises identifying, via a computerprocessor, data types to be retrieved for custodians.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein linking the data management level to the casemanagement level and the custodial management level further comprisescollecting, via a computer processor, data associated with one or morecustodians.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein linking the datamanagement level to the case management level and the custodialmanagement level further comprises storing, in computer memory, thecollected data on a long-term storage media.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein linking the data management level to the case management leveland the custodial management level further comprises linking, via acomputer processor, the collected data with one or more search term setsprovided for at the case management level.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein linking the data management level to the case management leveland the custodial management level further comprises copying thecollected data to a processing drive for analysis.
 15. A method forconducting electronic discovery within an enterprise environment,comprising: generating, via a computer processor, an electronicdiscovery case; linking, via a computer processor, a custodian profileof a custodian to the electronic discovery case; collecting, via acomputer network, electronic data associated with the custodian; andstoring, in computer memory, a reference to the collected electronicdata in an electronic discovery case-specific file.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein generating the electronic discovery case furthercomprises storing, in computer memory, the electronic discovery case ina first network location and linking the custodian profile furthercomprises linking the custodian profile of the custodian, which isstored in a second network location, to the electronic discovery case.17. The method of claim 15, wherein linking the custodian profilefurther comprises linking the custodian profile, which includesinformation relating to storage locations in the network associated withthe custodian, to the electronic discovery case.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein collecting electronic data further comprises accessing atleast one of the storage locations.
 19. The method of claim 15, whereincollecting electronic data further comprises collecting automatically,via a computer network, upon linking the custodian profile to theelectronic discovery case.
 20. The method of claim 15, whereincollecting electronic data further comprises implementing, via thecomputer network, a local collector to copy electronic data residing ona networked computing device to a targeted networked computing deviceassociated with the custodian.
 21. The method of claim 20, whereinlinking the custodian profile of the custodian further compriseslinking, via a computer processor, the custodian profile, which storesan IP address of the targeted network computing device computing, to theelectronic discovery case and wherein collecting electronic data furthercomprises accessing the IP address in the custodian profile to collectthe electronic data residing on the targeted networked computing device.22. The method of claim 15, wherein collecting electronic data furthercomprises accessing a network storage area associated with the custodianand copying electronic files residing on the network storage area. 23.The method of claim 15, wherein collecting electronic data furthercomprises accessing an email exchange server associated with thecustodian and copying electronic communication residing on the emailexchange server.
 24. The method of claim 15, wherein collectingelectronic data further comprises copying electronic files and storingthe copies of the electronic files in a network storage area inassociation with a barcode.
 25. The method of claim 15, wherein storinga reference to the collected electronic data in an electronic discoverycase-specific file further comprises storing a barcode associated withthe collected electronic data in the electronic discovery case-specificfile.
 26. The method of claim 15, further comprising: generating, via acomputer processor, one or more search terms to apply to the electronicdata; and storing, in computer memory, the search terms in theelectronic discovery case-specific file.
 27. The method of claim 15,further comprising: generating, via a computer processor, a preservationnotice; and communicating, via a computer network, the preservationnotice to the custodian.
 28. The method of claim 27, further comprisinggenerating, via a computer processor, a reminder notice related topreservation of data and communicating, via computer network, thereminder notice to the custodian.
 29. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: generating, via computer processor, a survey notice; andcommunicating, via a computing network, the survey notice to thecustodian.
 30. The method of claim 15, further comprising: monitoring,via a computing network, a status of the custodian; determining, via acomputer processor, a status change for the custodian; and changing, viaa computer processor, in the custodian profile a collection status forthe custodian based on the status change.
 31. An electronic discoverysystem comprising: an electronic discovery case database configured tostore a plurality of electronic discovery cases; an electronic discoverycustodian database configured to store a plurality of custodianprofiles, each profile associated with a respective one of a pluralityof custodians, wherein each of the custodian profiles are linked withone or more of the electronic discovery cases; and an electronicdiscovery collection application configured to manage network collectionof electronic data associated with the plurality of custodians.
 32. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the electronic discovery custodian databaseis further configured to store the custodian profiles that compriseinformation relating to storage locations in a network associated withthe custodian.
 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the electronicdiscovery collection application is further configured to utilize thestorage locations in the custodian profiles to collect electronic filesof the respective custodian.
 34. The system of claim 31, wherein theelectronic discovery collection application is further configured toautomatically collect electronic data of a custodian upon linking arespective custodian profile to an electronic discovery case.
 35. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the electronic discovery case database isfurther configured to store the plurality of electronic discovery casesthat include a reference to electronic data collected by the electronicdiscovery collection application.
 36. A computer program product forconducting electronic discovery in an enterprise environment, thecomputer program product comprising a computer-readable medium havingcomputer-readable program instructions stored therein, wherein saidcomputer-readable program instructions comprise: first instructionsconfigured for generating an electronic discovery case; secondinstructions configured for linking a custodian profile of a custodianto the electronic discovery case; third instructions configured forcollecting, via a computing network, electronic files associated withthe custodian; and fourth instructions configured for storing in theelectronic discovery case a reference to the collected electronic files.